"The Olympics start airing tonight on NBC. It's very cool. That's right, NBC has the Olympics. It's a big deal. NBC will finally get to show somebody who is OK with passing the torch." O'Brien then noted, "I allowed myself one, but it was a good one."

I haven't watched the "Tonight show" since Johnny Carson left as Jay Leno is an overrated, unfunny, hack. I did watch some of the opening episode with Jimmy Fallon at the behest of my wife. I did enjoy it. I'd try it again.

not bloody likely. jimmy fallon is popular with videos online and shares on social media, something jay leno was shiatty with. ratings dont really matter as much now as online replays and various other ways to get people to watch ads.

smoky2010:I haven't watched the "Tonight show" since Johnny Carson left as Jay Leno is an overrated, unfunny, hack. I did watch some of the opening episode with Jimmy Fallon at the behest of my wife. I did enjoy it. I'd try it again.

I tried sex at the behest of your wife. I did enjoy it. I'd try it again.

The Tonight Show just doesn't have the cache that it used to. Back when it first began, with original host Steve Allen, there were less than 5 networks, and no late-night chat shows aside from that one. If you wanted to promote your movie, your TV show, your book, your album....that was your only option. Even through Jack Paar and most of Johnny Carson's reign, that remained true, even if the number of channels you now had, changed. Today, there are how many different late-night programs for people to watch? The Tonight Show, Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, Conan O'Brien, and if you have BBC America, Graham Norton. Also, Chelsea Handler and probably a few others that I'm forgetting.

The point is, the idea is no longer novel or unique. You no longer have to tune into just one show to see your favorite actor or musician or author. You can watch about a dozen, or just go to YouTube.

wichitaleaf:I know I'm the only one here who does, but I always liked Kimmel.Even if he took Carolla's career from him.

Carolla's career died because he's a biter guy more interested in trying to be a political hack than being funny. He puts the political part first instead of the humor part (like, say, Colbert or Stone/Parker or Dennis Miller or John Stewart) and that' killed him.

Mrs.Sharpier:not bloody likely. jimmy fallon is popular with videos online and shares on social media, something jay leno was shiatty with. ratings dont really matter as much now as online replays and various other ways to get people to watch ads.

Not only that - there is probably considerable overlap in the fanbases of Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert. Putting them against each other forces fans of both to choose for the live airings. They need to pay close attention to time-shifted viewings before making any decisions.

meanmutton:wichitaleaf: I know I'm the only one here who does, but I always liked Kimmel.Even if he took Carolla's career from him.

Carolla's career died because he's a biter guy more interested in trying to be a political hack than being funny. He puts the political part first instead of the humor part (like, say, Colbert or Stone/Parker or Dennis Miller or John Stewart) and that' killed him.

Conan's ratings were never the problem. He was doing fine in the younger demos and his positioning was always about future growth rather than current numbers. The problem was Leno's threat to move to ABC and his subsequent tanking in primetime. That pissed off the affiliates who threatened to stop airing Leno. Because of the terrible contract they made with Leno, NBC had to air his show and the only option they had was to push him back to after the news. Had NBC been willing to let Leno walk, Conan would likely still be at The Tonight Show.

I think Conan would have done fine, if NBC had just left shiat alone. Instead, they had to have Jay be a lead-in, and then they panicked too fast when ratings weren't sky-high. If they had just given Jay a stack of cash to GTFO, and given Conan time to adjust and settle in, I think he would have stayed on has host and would have done a fine job. Though, TBH, I think Conan may be happier where he is, in that he has more control of the content of his show now.

Coco LaFemme:The Tonight Show just doesn't have the cache that it used to. Back when it first began, with original host Steve Allen, there were less than 5 networks, and no late-night chat shows aside from that one. If you wanted to promote your movie, your TV show, your book, your album....that was your only option. Even through Jack Paar and most of Johnny Carson's reign, that remained true, even if the number of channels you now had, changed. Today, there are how many different late-night programs for people to watch? The Tonight Show, Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, Conan O'Brien, and if you have BBC America, Graham Norton. Also, Chelsea Handler and probably a few others that I'm forgetting

Craig Ferguson hosting his bizarro late night show as well. No band, a robot sidekick and two interns in a horse costume, and interviews that pretty much ignore any concept of scripted questions. There's a reason certain guests flourish on there and thus come back repeatedly, while others never show up or are on once and don't come back. Those without much of a personality or those who aren't so good at thinking on their feet and carrying on a free-flowing conversation just look boring as hell on there.

Jimmy won't fail because he is Lorne Michaels boy. He has always been groomed by the guy and he has been protected by him for a long time. His ratings could drop to ridiculously low levels and Lorne would still convince NBC to have his back. Conan didn't have a big player in his pocket protecting him so he could easily be shoved out.

The concept of late night shows as viable is fading anyways. With so many channels, people not tuning in at the point of broadcast anymore, and the overall sentiment toward these shows I don't see them surviving much longer.

whosits_112:I think Conan would have done fine, if NBC had just left shiat alone.

Conan is a funny guy who can't make a late night talk show work for the crap viewership available in that time slot.Look at Leno, when Leno went to "prime time". He got what, about the same ratings as he did when he was running the Tonight show?In prime time, those same ratings are a fail. Sure, that poisoned whatever chances Conan had, but Conan was never right as a talk show host.Conan can do bit pieces and a few choice jokes make their way through to the mainstream.But Fallon has something that Conan doesn't have -- a connection to the more average viewer. Fallon is getting started, but already he's ahead of the curve.

I thought Fallon's first show wasn't great. Fortunately, Colbert hadn't bailed him of that way too long skit, but I think Fallon went through a case of Chap-Stick with all the ass-kissing he did that night. Hopefully all of that is out of the way now and he'll grow into the role.

Trying to capitalize on the big audience watching the lead-in Sochi Olympics, NBC aired the episode at midnight, not the 11:35 p.m. time slot that will be its regular home.

As unimpressed as I have been with Fallon so far, we'll just have to wait and see how he does in the 11:35 time slot.

GQueue:Craig Ferguson hosting his bizarro late night show as well. No band, a robot sidekick and two interns in a horse costume, and interviews that pretty much ignore any concept of scripted questions. There's a reason certain guests flourish on there and thus come back repeatedly, while others never show up or are on once and don't come back. Those without much of a personality or those who aren't so good at thinking on their feet and carrying on a free-flowing conversation just look boring as hell on there.

meanmutton:wichitaleaf: I know I'm the only one here who does, but I always liked Kimmel.Even if he took Carolla's career from him.

Carolla's career died because he's a biter guy more interested in trying to be a political hack than being funny. He puts the political part first instead of the humor part (like, say, Colbert or Stone/Parker or Dennis Miller or John Stewart) and that' killed him.

Carolla's career died because he decided that signing onto being the west coast replacement for Howard Stern on a station with an all-talk format was a good idea. Carolla's humor thrives on repetition which can be funny for a while because you feel like you're in on the joke, but it ultimately becomes tedious. I was a regular podcast listener up until last year and the only new ideas he came up with last year were DAG's Teddy Pendergrass impression and Jo Koy's Parking ninja/Chinese maitre'd, and he promptly ran them both into the ground.

On top of that, he has become rather narrowminded politically and ever since Teresa Strasser left there's no one to challenge his point of view. I remember at one point he was railing about how high taxes were when Alison pointed out that tax rates were the lowest in a generation and his response was basically "well, some people believe that" and that was the end of the discussion. When he has conservatives on, he tends to slobber all over them, and then when he has an actual liberal on he usually conducts a milquetoast interview.

In short, he's gone from being the funny cranky guy to the actual cranky guy.

mcmnky:thesharkman: They aired Monday's show at midnight? Olympics or not. Why? Use this time to promote the show.

Might as well get an early start with the push to bring back Leno at 11:35 and move the Tonight Show to 12.

I still can't believe Conan's agent or whoever didn't get protection for an 11:35 time slot written into the contract. Do we have a profile on this guy or gal. Was Conan's reaction to that in the Conan Can't Stop movie?

Leno has already said he isn't ever going back. Last time he was already there, he didn't have to go back.

Taking the show back to New York is just doubling down on stupid. This show should die fast and the hipsters can't blame Leno this time.

But, Lorne Michaels was able to keep the low rated 30 Rock on for years becasue of his juice. And everyone knows how many sucky years SNL has had over the years. So, Fallon is going to get him a lot more chances than Conan's Tonight Show ever got. He also kept Conan on in the beginning when he wasn't doing well after he replaced Letterman.

After reading Adam Carolla's books, I think he should run for President. He is hardly a failure. He isn't just another Hollywood ignorant mouthy lib, so that is the problem some have with him.

Decillion:mcmnky: thesharkman: They aired Monday's show at midnight? Olympics or not. Why? Use this time to promote the show.

Might as well get an early start with the push to bring back Leno at 11:35 and move the Tonight Show to 12.

I still can't believe Conan's agent or whoever didn't get protection for an 11:35 time slot written into the contract. Do we have a profile on this guy or gal. Was Conan's reaction to that in the Conan Can't Stop movie?

They can't predict everything. Letterman's old NBC contract gave him a $1 million payoff if, against all expectations at the time, he didn't get the Tonight Show, but of course $1 million was nothing once NBC committed to Leno. Thanks to the aggressiveness of Leno's agent, Leno was secretly locked in to succeed Carson before Carson announced his retirement.

Foreshadowing the Leno/Conan debacle, NBC did offer Letterman the Tonight Show, under terrible terms. If he'd accepted, Letterman would have stayed at NBC and taken over the Tonight Show at the end of Leno's original Tonight Show contract which was 2 years or something. It would have made Letterman look like a villain very similarly to how Leno looked by hanging around, looming over Conan until Conan walked. Letterman said no to NBC and took the much better deal at CBS that made him not only host but owner of CBS's late night franchises.

barneyfifesbullet:After reading Adam Carolla's books, I think he should run for President. He is hardly a failure. He isn't just another Hollywood ignorant mouthy lib, so that is the problem some have with him.

He's ignorant and mouthy, so 2 out of 3 isn't bad. Remember, this is a guy who has made his entire living on public airwaves, TV, and internet, and yet insists the government hasn't done anything for him.

Stile4aly:barneyfifesbullet: After reading Adam Carolla's books, I think he should run for President. He is hardly a failure. He isn't just another Hollywood ignorant mouthy lib, so that is the problem some have with him.

He's ignorant and mouthy, so 2 out of 3 isn't bad. Remember, this is a guy who has made his entire living on public airwaves, TV, and internet, and yet insists the government hasn't done anything for him.

pkellmey:Stile4aly: barneyfifesbullet: After reading Adam Carolla's books, I think he should run for President. He is hardly a failure. He isn't just another Hollywood ignorant mouthy lib, so that is the problem some have with him.

He's ignorant and mouthy, so 2 out of 3 isn't bad. Remember, this is a guy who has made his entire living on public airwaves, TV, and internet, and yet insists the government hasn't done anything for him.

?Blink? - Those things are not owned by the government.

Yeah I thought it was a stretch, but they are certainly regulated (and in the case of airwaves, sold) by the government, and of course the US government is responsible for the existence of the Internet. I think he was just in a "you didn't build that" groove. To me Carolla's primary crime is that he's not funny on his own shows. He's good in small doses on other people's shows.

rugman11:Conan's ratings were never the problem. He was doing fine in the younger demos and his positioning was always about future growth rather than current numbers. The problem was Leno's threat to move to ABC and his subsequent tanking in primetime. That pissed off the affiliates who threatened to stop airing Leno. Because of the terrible contract they made with Leno, NBC had to air his show and the only option they had was to push him back to after the news. Had NBC been willing to let Leno walk, Conan would likely still be at The Tonight Show.

More Conan revisionist BS?

1. Jay wasn't going to Fox or ABC when he was locked into the Jay Leno SHow. They were afraid he'd leave immediately after Conan had him booted, so they gave him his show.2. Conan was getting destroyed by Letterman, and NBC freaked out. Conan wasn't working and he cried about it. NBC saw their cash-cow franchise (The Tonight Show) getting slapped around, and Conan wasn't stopping the bleeding. Jay comes back and BAM!! Back to the top of the ratings and money was flowing by the assload to NBC again.

Conan has some funny stuff; too bad he isn't the guy for the Tonight Show franchise. It's funny how everyone of the hipsters makes Jay Leno out to be the villain, when it was Conan who held the gun to Jay and NBC's head to either send Jay off and give him the show he always wanted, or I'm throwing my toys out of the pram and running to a rival network. NBC should have said "Okay. Bye." Conan is the one who has been a whiny little girl 4 years after this all went down. Jay has been nothing but a class act in it all.

Every week, it never fails.....Conan will have some swipe at Leno for something because he can't let it go.

Mi-5:rugman11: Conan's ratings were never the problem. He was doing fine in the younger demos and his positioning was always about future growth rather than current numbers. The problem was Leno's threat to move to ABC and his subsequent tanking in primetime. That pissed off the affiliates who threatened to stop airing Leno. Because of the terrible contract they made with Leno, NBC had to air his show and the only option they had was to push him back to after the news. Had NBC been willing to let Leno walk, Conan would likely still be at The Tonight Show.

More Conan revisionist BS?

1. Jay wasn't going to Fox or ABC when he was locked into the Jay Leno SHow. They were afraid he'd leave immediately after Conan had him booted, so they gave him his show.2. Conan was getting destroyed by Letterman, and NBC freaked out. Conan wasn't working and he cried about it. NBC saw their cash-cow franchise (The Tonight Show) getting slapped around, and Conan wasn't stopping the bleeding. Jay comes back and BAM!! Back to the top of the ratings and money was flowing by the assload to NBC again.

Conan has some funny stuff; too bad he isn't the guy for the Tonight Show franchise. It's funny how everyone of the hipsters makes Jay Leno out to be the villain, when it was Conan who held the gun to Jay and NBC's head to either send Jay off and give him the show he always wanted, or I'm throwing my toys out of the pram and running to a rival network. NBC should have said "Okay. Bye." Conan is the one who has been a whiny little girl 4 years after this all went down. Jay has been nothing but a class act in it all.

Every week, it never fails.....Conan will have some swipe at Leno for something because he can't let it go.

No, it's not revisionist.

1. Leno's threat to move got him the 10:00pm show and Pay and Play contract, meaning that NBC was contractually obligated to air the show for at least a year before they could pull it. This meant that they couldn't just tell Jay to take a walk when The Jay Leno Show tanked.

2. Conan was doing just fine in the demo ratings that matter (because advertisers pay for them). Just Google "tvbythenumbers October 2009" or November 2009 without the quotes and choose any particular date. They'll tell you that Conan was regularly pulling a demo rating just 0.1 behind Letterman. Yes, Leno had been doing better, but Conan was doing just fine.

3. It wasn't The Tonight Show that NBC was worried about, it was the local affiliates, whose news broadcasts were getting trounced because they had no lead-in from Jay. They were the biggest proponents of the change.

FWIW, I don't blame Jay. I blame NBC. They should have either let Jay go or, probably better for them, let Conan go when he was threatening to back in 2004. NBC boned this by trying to fire a guy who wasn't ready to go and then panicking about the idea of him being their new competition.

GQueue:Coco LaFemme: The Tonight Show just doesn't have the cache that it used to. Back when it first began, with original host Steve Allen, there were less than 5 networks, and no late-night chat shows aside from that one. If you wanted to promote your movie, your TV show, your book, your album....that was your only option. Even through Jack Paar and most of Johnny Carson's reign, that remained true, even if the number of channels you now had, changed. Today, there are how many different late-night programs for people to watch? The Tonight Show, Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, Conan O'Brien, and if you have BBC America, Graham Norton. Also, Chelsea Handler and probably a few others that I'm forgetting

Craig Ferguson hosting his bizarro late night show as well. No band, a robot sidekick and two interns in a horse costume, and interviews that pretty much ignore any concept of scripted questions. There's a reason certain guests flourish on there and thus come back repeatedly, while others never show up or are on once and don't come back. Those without much of a personality or those who aren't so good at thinking on their feet and carrying on a free-flowing conversation just look boring as hell on there.

Mi-5:1. Jay wasn't going to Fox or ABC when he was locked into the Jay Leno SHow. They were afraid he'd leave immediately after Conan had him booted, so they gave him his show.2. Conan was getting destroyed by Letterman, and NBC freaked out. Conan wasn't working and he cried about it.

I can't think of anything more revisionist than this shiat right here. "Conan had him booted"? You mean when NBC decided that Conan would take over the Tonight Show in 2009 all the way back in 2004, because NBC was afraid that Conan would go to another network and start a competing show? Which gave Leno five years to come to terms with leaving the show, except he decided a few months before leaving that he wasn't done with TV, so NBC gave him a new show to keep him at the network because Leno had a contract that demand as such. That show, which destroyed The Tonight Show's lead-in ratings, forcing local affiliates to demand a change. And NBC, in a desperate attempt to keep Conan because they did not want him to leave the network, tried to form a compromise between his show and Jay's by changing the times around. Except Conan felt it wasn't right to move the time slot of the show he was promised *five years prior to that incident*, simply because Jay Leno decided he wasn't done with TV.

Fallon is the most talented person on television. And he's a lot more like a young Johnny Carson than that Leno fella. It may be tough for him to hold onto Jay's older audience, but hopefully he makes up for it with the Gen X and Y'ers.

Leno is well known in the industry as one of the nicest guys around, and I wish him well. I never cared for him on the Tonight Show as it was just too "safe" and middle America for my tastes. But his final farewell was one of the most honest and heartfelt things I've ever seen.

Conan seems bitter and arrogant. I liked his show for a while, but it gives me a negative vibe now. I mostly watch it for Richter, who is the best sidekick on TV today, and possibly ever.

Kimmel is good except for the opening monolog, where his lack of standup comedy background is pretty glaring. He always seems to stumble through the open and doesn't have great timing with the jokes. The rest of his show is usually fun, though. And now he and Conan are the only guys doing their shows from the West Coast.

And Letterman just makes me think of 1980's New York. He's like bitter Conan 20 years from now. I only watch when he's humiliating McCain, Lohan, Hilton, etc.

rugman11:Conan's ratings were never the problem. He was doing fine in the younger demos and his positioning was always about future growth rather than current numbers. The problem was Leno's threat to move to ABC and his subsequent tanking in primetime. That pissed off the affiliates who threatened to stop airing Leno. Because of the terrible contract they made with Leno, NBC had to air his show and the only option they had was to push him back to after the news. Had NBC been willing to let Leno walk, Conan would likely still be at The Tonight Show.

Bingo. It was always about money; Jay's contract was worth more, it was cheaper to buy out Conan than Leno. The decision was a business decision. I really like Conan and wanted him to succeed, but Leno's lawyers outmaneuvered his and NBCs. The fact the NBC even let it happen speaks volumes about their inadequacy as a network.

Fallon's okay, I guess, but even after all his years of TV experience, no matter what he's doing he still seems like he's awkwardly trying to pass an audition. The natural replacement for Jay would have been Arsenio Hall. Hall's always gracious to his guests, he's got nostalgia cache, and let's face it, if you're over 60 and still like the Tonight Show, he's not going to crack your ribs from laughing too hard at all his wild and crazy antics. He's pretty low-key and grandma safe.